Selling at a disadvantage

Understand value and market demand to achieve the sale of a less-than-ideal property

SOMETIMES the property you’re selling may have a marketing disadvantage – features perceived as a negative or lacking a certain something that buyers see as a musthave.

How would that impact on the eventual sale price or time it takes to sell your home? What can you do to minimise this effect?

Despite the huge array of features that impact on all our homes, they all will only fall into one of just two categories. Category one is the feature totally outside our control such as a main road, noise-impacted location, neighbouring highrise, no parking or the worst street in the suburb.

Category two features we can influence and ultimately control, such as lack of a fourth or second bathroom in a family market, dated fittings, an ugly facade, lack of openplan design or a poor floor plan. Maybe the home feels dark, has low ceilings or no outdoor area.

Understanding and actually acknowledging any disadvantages with your home from the start will give you control and a greater understanding of true value and real demand that you can anticipate. What should you do? Expect to price and sell at a value that reflects the disadvantages. The chance of selling will be substantially increased as you will be offering a property type that would not normally be affordable for a buyer if it was disadvantage free.

If it is an aesthetic issue, try screening with fencing/planting to hide unsightly aspects. Let your property become a form of oasis, secluded from those visual disadvantages. For any noise issues, double glazing – particularly on the side of the home most affected – can reduce noise.

Be up front, acknowledge the issues, find out the facts and seek remedies you can control. This will affect the sale price of home negatively but that reduction in value or desirability can be managed.

The good news with category two features is that you can do absolutely nothing – but expect to sell for a comparatively lower price. If your home needs a complete update before your sell, a full renovation can be a risky strategy unless you are experienced and have the contacts.

Minor projects could be worth implementing, just do your sums. Cost has to be equal or exceed value gain or this is futile.

Adding rooms including bathrooms can be worthwhile but works have to be costed and compared to future value.